Nihon no news………..

If you are in the US or Japanese Navy, yesterday was just not a good day.

On the US side:

Lions and tigers and metal detectors oh my! That’s right, make sure you have a clean pair of boxers on if you are going through the gate of Yokosuka Naval base. I think I saw a box of latex medicinal gloves in the guard shack. Cars are being stopped, trunks are being searched,  and arms are being outstretched as the metal detectors are waved up and down, left and right. Here is why:

Authorities are searching for a US sailor in Japan after his credit card was reportedly found in the car of a taxi driver who was stabbed to death.

The case comes with relations between Japan and the US military tense, following a series of high-profile crimes linked to servicemen, including the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl by a US Marine.

Masaaki Takahashi, a 61-year-old taxi driver, was found dead with a knife in his neck in his parked taxi late Wednesday on a road in Yokosuka, a military hub at the mouth of Tokyo Bay, police said.

“The US forces contacted me and informed me that a US soldier may have been involved in the murder case in Yokosuka,” Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters. He declined to elaborate.

The US military pledged cooperation.

“We condemn this horrific crime in the strongest possible terms,” the US Navy command in Japan said in a statement.

“The US Navy is standing by to help with the Japanese police and in whatever manner is needed,” it said.

Local media said a credit card and other items were found in the car that were believed to belong to a 22-year-old sailor.

The sailor, part of the US 7th Fleet based in Yokosuka, had been missing for weeks before the incident and remains unaccounted for, television networks said.

Reports said Mr Takahashi may have argued with his customer over the fare.

As a footnote, the S.O. and I went out walking and shopping this morning. (At her behest golf went out the window-for someone who supposedly is mean to women- I sure am accommodating to their wishes. 🙂 ). She has a couple of recycle stores and antique shops she likes to go to and one of them is just up from the Yokouska police station. As we were walking back, the police station was ringed with TV trucks. Outside the front gate of Yokosuka base, there were also cameramen camped out. When I asked them in Japanese what they were waiting for-one of the guys just gave me a look and then kept his silence. I did not take that as a good sign………….

Meanwhile, up in the hallowed halls of the SDF Headquarters in Ichigaya-the hammer came down yesterday:

TOKYO — Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba shook up the leadership of the Maritime Self-Defense Force on Friday, effectively sacking MSDF chief Adm. Eiji Yoshikawa and punishing 88 people for a series of MSDF-related fiasco’s since last year as part of his efforts to restore public confidence.

The Defense Ministry also released a set of fact-finding reports on the incidents, which include last month’s collision between an Aegis destroyer and a tuna fishing boat, the leakage of confidential data related to the Aegis radar system within the MSDF which was revealed in early 2007 and a major fire on the destroyer Shirane in December.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told reporters he hopes the measures will encourage “the Defense Ministry and the Self-Defense Forces to renew themselves.” But ministry officials admit the actions were insufficient and indicated fundamental reforms still appear to be unlikely.

“The watch was not conducted appropriately,” Ishiba told a press conference, releasing the closely watched report on the collision between the 7,700-ton Aegis destroyer Atago and the 7.3-ton tuna trawler Seitoku Maru, which left two fishermen missing and presumed dead.

Ishiba revealed that all the lookouts were on the main bridge because of rain and nobody was watching one of the two radar displays in the key operations room called the Combat Information Center shortly before the accident.

“We have yet to receive any information suggesting the night crew recognized the Seitoku Maru by radar,” Ishiba said.

“The Atago failed to undertake appropriate maneuvering” even though it was highly possible that the ship was obliged to avoid the collision, the minister said.

But the collision report did not contain key information directly revealing its cause as the fact-finding team refrained from directly questioning some of the Atago crew so as not to affect ongoing investigations by the Japan Coast Guard.

Earlier Friday, the Cabinet endorsed the change of chief of staff of the Maritime Staff Office and other appointments, which will take effect Monday.

Ishiba said he punished Vice Defense Minister Kohei Masuda and Yoshikawa, cutting their salaries 10 percent for two and three months, respectively, as well as MSDF officers and members for their tepid reactions to the collision including slow notification of it to Ishiba as well as the prime minister.

Ishiba dismissed Yoshikawa from his current post immediately after imposing the punishment and named MSDF Sasebo District Headquarters commandant Adm. Keiji Akahoshi as his successor.

The minister also said he will return part of his salary for March and April, nearly 320,000 yen in total, to the state coffers, while Senior Vice Defense Minister Akinori Eto as well as the two parliamentary defense secretaries will do likewise.

I find myself of mixed mind about all this. On the one hand, nothing I have seen indicates a systemic failure of the JMSDF training system-just a failure by the crew of the Atago to follow already established procedures. Then again, it is kind of refreshing that the Japanese Navy has not adopted the custom of the American Navy-namely throw sacrificial O-5’s and O-6’s under the bus so as to keep the flag officers from being involved or sullied in the ritual weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth that ensues when something like this happens.

There is definitely more news to come on both these stories. Here at Far East Cynic HQ-we’ll stay on top of it.